The Woodsmen’s refrain of “gotta light?” points to their main goal being fire-related, too.

I read the Fire Walk With Me tattoo/statement of BOB and MIKE’s as meaning they’re trying to manipulate souls, perhaps the life force of our universe itself. It could even mean that they’re trying to wrestle this force away from the Fireman–“walk with ME” instead.

Through the darkness of future past
The magician longs to see.
One chants out between two worlds
Fire walk with me.

The magician would be the Fireman observing the entrance of the Black Lodge beings into our universe. The “one” would be BOB or MIKE, or perhaps the whole Black Lodge. Their chant is a challenge to him.

The Monica Bellucci dream. “Who is the dreamer?” A good question. I’m not taking the scene literally, if only because I doubt Mark Frost is interested in this all being someone’s dream. Although perhaps it means that this world is not all some character’s dream but the dream of the beings from the Lodges. I really have no idea, though. I’m leaning toward it being a metaphorical statement. It’s also very similar to a quote Lynch gave to explain Inland Empire: “We are like the spider. We weave our life and then move along in it. We are like the dreamer who dreams and then lives in the dream. This is true for the entire universe.” That’s from this Hindu text: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brihadaranyaka_Upanishad

Inland Empire can be interpreted as being about a woman shedding her negative karma from a past life (this would explain the flashback scenes in Poland from that film). Perhaps the quote in Twin Peaks points to karma in some way. Lynch is very interested in Buddhism, as is Dale Cooper, and the Buddhist view of karma is that it’s the engine of the illusion that is our world. Once someone sheds their karma from this life and past lives, they have the choice to leave this world and enter Nirvana. (That’s a pretty simplified take, it’s been a while since I’ve read about Buddhism.) Again, I’m not really sure what that says in relation to Twin Peaks, or if it’s even relevant here.

Lynch is an enthusiastic supporter of “TM” or transcendental meditation, which is technically Hindu (although they claim to be open to all religions).

It’s been a while since I’ve seen Mulholland Drive, but yes, the LA she imagines as “Betty” can be seen as a rebirth or a Bardo realm created by her dreams and hallucinations in which she experiences the effects of her own actions. I think she is caught in a kind of loop in which her karma catches up with her. In the movie she eventually disappears I think, after she breaks down hearing “Llorando”, and returns to the moment of her suicide.

Janey-E is Diane’s sister! I doubt Janey’s in on the Dougie ruse but I wonder if the Bad Dale manipulated her into falling for him. Thus, her falling in love with Dale is her first genuine response to her husband.

The English guy with the green glove had an awesome story to tell. The Fireman said quite a lot to him. Am I right in thinking that the guy’s accent is outdated, or at least super exaggerated for comedic effect?

The ringing noise in the Great Northern is emanating from that room James saw in the basement. I wonder if the noise isn’t related to Ghostwood lumber at all?

EDIT: I also think this episode gave an indirect confirmation that the Fireman pulled Laura Palmer from the Black Lodge in episode 2. Naido was also yanked quite forcefully from the roof of that limbo building in the episode she appeared in, and it seems likely that the Fireman put her in the woods for whatever role she’s going to play in the conclusion.

I am not necessarily saying Lynch saw Betty’s existence as a bardo state or a literal rebirth, and bardo as an intermediate state is not something I believe in when it comes to my own experience with Buddhism. However I think one can see parallels if one wishes.

Rebirth and karma are clearer themes in Inland Empire I think than they are in Mulholland Drive.

I am not necessarily saying Lynch saw Betty’s existence as a bardo state or a literal rebirth, and bardo as an intermediate state is not something I believe in when it comes to my own experience with Buddhism. However I think one can see parallels if one wishes.

Oh for sure. With Lynch’s more esoteric work it’s the viewer’s interpretation that matters most. That’s part of the reason why I think he makes films the way he does; the other part being he just thinks/tells stories this way.

I think it’s just underlining the themes of the show–namely, that these demons are us. I’m thinking it’s sort of like an Invisibles thing. The world is a collective dream and the otherworldly monsters are just the ugly parts of ourselves reflected back at us. This would mean the Fireman is our higher, selfless values. They both come from outside of time, from the real us, because linear time is the backbone of the illusion. This would also explain MIKE’s “Is it future or is it past?” question which he’s asked Dale a few times–he’s pointing to the meaninglessness of time, from his point of view.

I don’t know, just spitballing. But I think trying to identify a single dreamer is a red herring. Seeing the dreamer as all of us kinda fits.